Warrior hulk claims two divers' lives

The Rainbow Warrior wreck in Northland has been the site of two diver deaths this month, though an instructor and guide says the popular site is not difficult.

Neil John Doherty, 27, died in Auckland Hospital on Thursday after he surfaced in difficulty at the site near Matauri Bay.

On February 10, a 53-year-old English tourist died after she was pulled from the water unconscious.

The Greenpeace vessel has become one of the country's most popular dives since it was scuttled in Matauri Bay in 1987.

The vessel was towed there from Auckland Harbour, where it had been bombed by French secret service agents.

It lies at a depth of 27m , depending on the tide.

Mr Doherty, an Auckland diver with limited experience, was diving alone and when he surfaced in trouble, a friend in a boat sought help from a passing launch.

The diver in the earlier incident, Hazel Absalom, of Kent, had an advanced open water diving certificate and had made several dives in Australia last month.

Ms Absalom was diving with a Paihia Dive party.

Charles Le Couteur, co-owner of Paihia Dive, tried to resuscitate her after it was noticed in the final few minutes of her ascent to the surface that she had stopped breathing.

Mr Le Couteur said Ms Absalom seemed fit and relaxed during the dive and had her picture taken beside the wreck.

"It's an easy dive because there is a descent line to follow to the bottom and you can get round it [the wreck] in one air tank easily and you have an ascent line to come up safely."

The cause of Ms Absalom's death is yet to be determined by the coroner.

Mr Le Couteur said the PADI international diving certification body expected anyone diving beyond 18m to have completed an advanced course.

"We get a lot of people who want to do the dive who only have an open waters certificate with limited experience and we won't allow them to dive.

"We insist it is instructor-led and treat it as a training deep adventure dive which is dive number one of the advanced open water certificate course."

In April 2003, another English woman died while diving on the Rainbow Warrior site with the company.

The coroner found that Diane Brocklehurst, 23, died of unascertained natural causes, possibly a cardiac arrest.